Didn’t I say the devil is always in the details. No new taxes? I think Spitzer has gone off the deep end, I really do. It came when I heard that he wants drug dealers to get tax stamps.. Then to get this partial list of some of the fee increases it confirms my suspicions. Hold on to your hats, or call the truck rental company, we are not turning this ship around anytime soon.

Fee increases that could essentially boost gas taxes by as much as a penny per gallon

Tax on flavored malt beverages, per six pack $0.06 $1.42

State auto insurance surcharge $5 $20

Residential real estate transfer fees $75 Ranging from $75 for homes worth up to $175,000, to $425 for homes worth more than $1 million

Commercial real estate transfer fees $165 Ranging from $165 for properties worth up to $175,000 to $750 for properties worth over $1 million

Sales tax for online vendors like Amazon.com Paid by individual Paid by the retailer consumers.

Spitzer: No new taxes - but more fees — Newsday.com

Gov. Eliot Spitzer promised no new taxes as he unveiled new budget proposals this week. But in the same speech he pledged to raise $1.9 billion by increasing certain kinds of fees and closing what he calls “tax loopholes.”

The changes include fee increases that could essentially boost gas taxes by as much as a penny per gallon; taxing flavored malt beverages by as much as $1.42 per six-pack; and dunning online retailers like Amazon.com for millions in unpaid state sales taxes, among others.

Spitzer cited Amazon as a signature example of loophole-closing. “They pretend that they don’t have any presence in the state of New York,” he said, explaining how the retailer simply leaves it up to New York consumers to pay state and county sales taxes, roughly 8 percent, on their own.

Now the governor has proposed charging Amazon and other online retailers directly for the $47 million in sales taxes he says they’ll owe next year. The taxes already exist, Spitzer argued, “we’re just changing the mechanism for collection.”

The American Booksellers Association’s Oren Teicher welcomed the move, saying Amazon has an “unfair advantage over New York-based retailers” who pay the tax. “This provision would play a significant role in leveling the playing field for all the state’s businesses,” said Teicher, the chief operating officer for the trade group.

In a case like Amazon’s, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said, “it might make sense to close a loophole that gives a non-New York company a competitive advantage.”

As for any of Spitzer’s proposals that do involve creating new taxes, Silver (D-Manhattan) said, “we’ll have to examine them very carefully.”

In a statement yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick) spoke far more critically of the Spitzer plan. “His $1.7 billion in proposed tax increases would hurt business and taxpayers across the state,” Bruno said.

And he’s not the only one complaining. Trucking groups worry that creating a single tax indexed to fuel prices will shrink profits. New York State Motor Truck Association President William Joyce said drivers here already pay about 38 cents per gallon in state fuel taxes. “If you’re burning a lot of fuel like a trucking company with tight margins, those numbers have a large consequence,” he said.

Beverage-sellers howled yesterday about higher taxes on drinks containing alcohol such as Smirnoff Ice or Mike’s Hard Lemonade at $2.54 per gallon - up from 11 cents, the amount the state still charges for beer.

“It’s increasing exponentially,” said Bob Reid, a lobbyist for Diageo, the firm that bottles Smirnoff Ice, which has the same alcohol content as many beers. “It’s going to be passed on to consumers.”

But Spitzer spokesman Jeffrey Gordon said other states tax these beverages at similar rates. Because they’re marketed like hard alcohol, Gordon said “we’re going to tax them like alcohol.”

PROPOSED FEES

A sampling of fee and tax changes in Spitzer’s proposed budget:

CURRENT PROPOSED

Tax on flavored malt beverages, per six pack $0.06 $1.42

State auto insurance surcharge $5 $20

Residential real estate transfer fees $75 Ranging from $75 for homes worth up to $175,000, to $425 for homes worth more than $1 million

Commercial real estate transfer fees $165 Ranging from $165 for properties worth up to $175,000 to $750 for properties worth over $1 million

Sales tax for online vendors like Amazon.com Paid by individual Paid by the retailer consumers.

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